UCL News

Services

Get updates from UCL News

Record support for early career researchers

5 September 2012

Researchers
at UCL have been awarded a total of 17 Starting Grants by the European Research
Council (ERC), the highest number awarded at UCL under a single funding call to
date. These grants have a total value of €21.6 million.

The ERC
Starting Grants scheme aims to support new European researchers to establish
research teams and develop their skills as independent research leaders.
Applicants who can demonstrate their potential, both in developing
groundbreaking research and leading projects, can benefit from long-term
funding and support to help them develop their career.

An ERC Proof of Concept grant was also won in this funding call. The total value of
ERC funding allocated to UCL currently stands at €94.5 million.

Professor
David Price, UCL Vice-Provost (Research) said: “I’d like to extend my
congratulations to the successful applicants on their extraordinary
achievement. These grants recognise the importance of investing in the next
generation of research leadership, and enabling early career researchers to
take the next steps in their career path. Cultivating strong leadership and
nurturing research excellence underpin research at UCL, and we will endeavour
to build on this accomplishment in coming years.”

Michael
Browne, Head of UCL European Research & Development, said: “For UCL to be
awarded this number of ERC Grants is an outstanding achievement. The awards
will enable recipients to grow and develop as research leaders, and reaffirm
UCL's position among the very top recipients of ERC funding in Europe.”

Dr Marc Vander Linden (UCL Institute
of Archaeology) "Transmission of innovations: Comparison and modelling of
early farming and associated technologies in Europe”

Prof Ewa Paluch (UCL Molecular
Biology) “The inherent morphological potential of the actin cortex and the
mechanics of shape control during cell division”

In addition
to the Starting Grants, Dr Kyle Jamieson (UCL Computer Science) has been
awarded an ERC Proof of Concept grant, designed to help grant holders to
prepare their project results for commercialisation, for his project “Tapping
802.11 Access Point Infrastructure for Fine-Grained Indoor Location”.